The Rose Dumplings That Are Almost Too Beautiful to Eat
Chef Esther Choi shows us how to make the steamed dish from scratch.
Esther Choi, ramen connoisseur and chef-owner of New York City‘s popular Korean eatery mökbar, is always looking for ways to give traditional recipes a new twist. After showing us how to make flower kimbap, she is back with another tutorial for HYPEBAE, this time on rose-shaped dumplings that are almost too pretty to eat.
The perfect comfort food for chilly, rainy days, Choi’s floral dumplings are prepared with a delicious filling — ground pork forms its base, while umami-rich kimchi and a mix of soy sauce, fish sauce and sesame oil give a burst of flavors in every bite. You might ask: “How do you create the rose petal-like dumpling skins?” Choi’s recipe uses fresh beet juice as a natural dye for the dough, a surprisingly easy method that even those who are new to home cooking will find manageable.
“Would you rather get real roses? Or a rose dumpling that you can eat?” Watch the video below to learn how to make the steamed dish from scratch and decide for yourself.
Ingredients
Filling
- 1 Medium zucchini, small dice
- 1 cup Garlic chives, chopped
- ½ Onion, small dice
- 1lb Ground pork
- 1 pack Tofu, extra firm
- 1 cup Kimchi, chopped
- 2 tbs. Garlic, minced
- 2 tbs. Sesame oil
- 2 tbs. Fish sauce
- 2 tbs. Soy sauce
- 2 tbs. Cornstarch
White Dough
- 1 cup All purpose flour
- ¼ cup Boiling water
- 1 tbs. Salt
- 1 tbs. Sesame oil
Pink Dough
- 1 cup All purpose flour
- 1 tbs. Beet juice
- ¼ cup Boiling water
- 1 tbs. Salt
- 1 tbs. Sesame oil
Red Dough
- 1 cup All purpose flour
- ¼ cup Beet juice
- 1 tbs. Salt
- 1 tbs. Sesame oil
Dumpling sauce
- ½ cup Soy sauce
- ¼ cup Rice vinegar
- 1 tbs. Sesame oil
- 1 tbs. Chili flakes or chili oil
- 1 tbs. Sesame seeds
Esther Choi
Directions
1. Salt the zucchini with 2 tbs. kosher salt and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Rinse and ring out the moisture with cheesecloth.
2. Same with the tofu, ring out all the moisture.
3. In a large bowl, combine zucchini, garlic chives, onion, ground pork, tofu and kimchi together. Add the seasonings — garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce, cornstarch — and mix well. Cover and let it sit while you make the dumpling skins.
4. Mix each dough ingredient together in a bowl. Knead until you have a smooth dough. Do this separately with each colored dough. Wrap with plastic wrap and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
5. Roll each dough into rectangle pieces (same length) Cut strips of both white and pink and layer it together to make it half white and half pink. Roll it together so that it becomes one rectangular shape. Cut a circle using a cookie cutter.
6. Arrange 4 wrappers in a line, slightly overlapping each other. Spread filling onto the center of the wrappers. Wet all edges of the wrappers and fold each wrapper over from top to bottom, ensuring that the edges are still overlapped. Gently roll the dumplings from one end to the other, starting from the left to the right, creating a flower shape. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
7. Steam for about 8-10 minutes until skins are translucent and cooked through.
8. Meanwhile, mix the sauce ingredients.
9. Enjoy!
